On Wednesday morning, I joined several other members of the Photo Adventures Camera Club for a field trip to the Sarasota Jungle Gardens.  We arrived there at 9:00, just as it opened.  The weather was beautiful and very few guests were there in the morning.  We were able to get some good pictures of subjects, such as Wood Ducks, Mallards, Brown Pelicans, Turtles, Great Egrets, Anhingas, Tricolored and Green Herons, Flamingos, and Turtles.  Captive species, such as colorful Parrots and Great Horned Owls were also fun.

Since there was still some daylight, I decided to go home and get my Canon D30 (DSLR) with a 400mm lens.  When I returned to the area, the cat was out on the grass again, just looking around.  I quietly approached him stopping about 30 feet away.  Again I was able to get some nice images of him sitting there.  We chatted for awhile and then he said he had to go and get some supper.  I asked jokingly, whether he consided small dogs like Toy Poodles as something good to eat.  He smiled at me as he slowly meandered into the scrub. I took more images as he walked into the scrub again.

In back of the Kings Highway Walmart store is a small marsh, about 15-20 acres in size, in which a lot of wading birds tend to feed.  Birds seen this morning included: Wood Storks (15), Great Blue Herons (12), Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Great Egrets (10), Snowy Egrets, Anhinga, Coots, Kingfisher, and Moorhens,  Three Sandhill Cranes, two Lesser Yellowlegs, several Laughing Gulls were seen flying over the area.  This place is a good location to take photos of the larger wading birds, especially in the morning when the sunlight is just right.  The marsh is slowly drying up, so I expect one will see a larger concentration of birds as time goes by.

Ten members of our camera club met at the Myakka River State Park.  The best photo opportunities were at the dam, beyond the concession stand.  Birds seen there included Anhingas, Cormorants, Egrets (Cattle, Great, and Snowy), Herons (Great Blue, Little Blue, and Tricolored), Ibises (Glossy and White), Limpkins, Hooded Mergansers, a Roseatte Spoonbill, Black-necke4d Stilts, Wood Storls, Tree Swallows, and many Vultures (Black and Turkey).  Driving along the road, several deer, a feral pig, and several Wild Turkeys were seen.  We also stopped at the birdwalk.  There were several hundred birds including Teal (Blue-winged and Green-winged), Dowitchers, Yellowlegs, and other shorebirds, but at too great a distance to photograph.